We are so honored to introduce our fans and followers to courageous fighter Kacie.
Kacie is 14 years old and the second oldest of 5 kids. Kacie is in the 9th grade. She loves hanging out with friends and loves playing Volleyball, cheerleading, softball and speech. She is extremely creative and has plans to become an art teacher. Kacie has a special love for reading. After experiencing double vision, as a result of a rare brain tumor, reading has become somewhat difficult for Kacie. Nonetheless, Kacie does not let cancer define her. She is so brave, so courageous and she will Never Ever Give Up this fight! This is Kacie’s story:
When Kacie was 12 years old, she started feeling different–not like herself–she became forgetful and started experiencing double vision. At first Kacie’s doctors simply thought her symptoms were due to stress, but as time went on, her symptoms progressed and she was becoming increasingly nauseated. An MRI was ordered by her doctor . From that moment on, life changed for Kacie. After a series of tests and scans, Kacie was told that she had a tumor on her brain which she would later learn to be extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcoma. Kacie was told that this type of tumor was so rare that only 15 people in the world have this tumor, and only 5 people have this tumor on the brain. Kacie needed surgery.
Kacie’s symptoms progressed leading up to surgery. Her nausea was intensifying making surgery prep difficult for her. Even though she was not feeling well, Kacie really wanted to ensure that when shaving her head for surgery, her hair would be donated to Locks of Love. Kacie tells us that despite how bad she felt, having the opportunity to help someone else made her feel better. Kacie experienced complications in this 14 hour surgery, which resulted in her needing a blood transfusion. Because of the complications, the surgeons were not able to remove the entire tumor, which meant that Kacie would have to undergo a second surgery a week later. It was then that Kacie received confirmation of her diagnosis–extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcoma.
After a month in treatment, Kacie was able to return home. Kacie tells us, “ It felt great to be back and get back to some normalcy. I was able to recover and finish up my 7th grade year with A’s and just a few B’s!” Kacie continued with her checkups and routine scans and things were going well. However, the following year Kacie was told that she would need to undergo a third surgery to remove more tumor. Kacie underwent the third surgery and recovered quickly with hopes of returning, again, to her normal life.
In April 2013, Kacie received the devastating news that she would need a 4th surgery and she needed to undergo radiation treatments. Kacie’s 4th surgery took place on April 22nd, again with life threatening complications. Kacie developed pseudomeningocele from this surgery which would require, yet another surgery on July 8th to help her heal.
“I started my 6 weeks of radiation on June 17th and am currently on my second week, and so far so good. I’m feeling pretty good. I just found out along with my tomography radiation, I will also need Gamma Knife on another spot in my brain. Even though I know this is coming, I’m just trying to enjoy my summer and take it one day at a time. I Pray that hopefully this radiation will take it all away, so I can go back to being as much of a normal teenage girl as I can be. I will Never Ever Give UP this fight!”- Kacie
Kacie you have the entire NEGU community behind you in this fight. We NEGU for you! If you would like to send Kacie some notes of encouragement, please visit her at Caringbridge
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kaciepikula